While I was studying under Professor Smith thirteen years ago he was working on the Encyclopedia of African American Politics. I will always remember one particular day sitting on the bench with the professor, we were smoking Newports. He was telling me how the publishers of the book were upset with him because he didn’t want to include Rosa Parks in his encyclopedia. “Why, not put her in there,” I asked?

He took a drag, looked at me with all seriousness and said, “Because all she did was sit on a bus!”